Display.



Patented Sept. 12, 1916,

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

R. H. BURNSIDE.V

DISPLAY.

APPUCATION -F|LED UCI-.15. 1915. 1,198,324.

DISPLAY.

APPJCANON man ocr. 15', 1915.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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ROBERT n. BURNSIDE, or NEW YORK, 1v. Y.

DISPLAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed October 15, 1915. Serial No. 56,099.

To all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, Ronn'r H. BURNSIDE, a subject of the King of England, residing at N ew York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Displays; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

This invention relates to scenic edects and more particularly to theatrical work in which there is a. great number of participants.

It has for an object to provide a plurality of flags or banners which at a predetermined time and with the minimum manual labor, may be quickly converted into one large banner. l

A further object of this invention is the provision of a staff for supporting a flag 01 banner which comprises detachable parts and which also provides means for effectively holding the parts together to simulate an ordinary staff.

Further objects will be apparent from the following specification, appended claims and drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a flag supported by a sta made in accordance with this invention, Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of parts of the staff Vshowing the general arrangement of certain parts for quick attachment or detachment as the case may require, Fig. 3 shows an enlarged flag formed by uniting a plurality of smaller units, Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing how the edges of the flags and parts of separate staffs may be united, and Fig. 5 is a perspective iiew showing the flag open and ready for attachment to an adjacent flag.

In scenic effects as for use in theaters, in which there is a large number of participants and wherein the participants execute fanciful drilling, it is possible by this invention to provide certain of the participants with iiags or banners who at the proper moment may convert said flags or banners from small individual banners into one large single flag in having each of said small flags form a sectional part of said large flag or in making a flag or banner in accordance with this invention it is possible to suspend a series of different flags or banners from a horizontal support and at the predetermined moment to release one of the parts of the support so thatthe same may fall to expose the inner face of a double piece of fabric and thereby display an enlarged banner of any desired description.

Various applications of this invention for scenic effects will be seen in view of the following specification in which similar reference Vnumerals indicate similar. parts throughout the several views and in which 10 indicates one of the sections of a flag staff upon which a metal ferrule 11 is secured in any desired manner. This metal ferrule supports another section of the staff which comprises the strips 12 and 13 which when applied, form a circular cross section. The section 12 supports a ball or other cap piece 14 in which a recesse 15 is formed. It isseen that by` detaching the sections 12 and 13 from the ferrule 11 and then by sliding the section 13 longitudinally on the section 12, the upper end of the section 13 may be detached from the recess 15 and thereby permit handling of the parts 12 and 13 separately.

To each of the sections 12 and 13 is attached one end of a banner 16 or as shown in the drawings, a section for the formation of an enlarged flag as at 17 and 18 respectively, and this banner or section may be folded or creased as at 19 when the stads 12 and 13 are assembled and the opposite side of the section 16 may depict flags of any kind as shown at 20.

lNhen it is desired to produce the effect 0r the conversion of the smaller banners or iiags into a larger one, at the proper time and when the participants of the drill are properly positioned, the staff 10 is removed from the sections 12 and 13. Sections 12 and 13 are then separated, and the participant holding said sections passes one of the sections to the next participant on either side, when the sections 12 and 13 are moved in spaced relation to properly stretch the banner. The section of the staff which has been passed to the neXt participant may then be locked as above provided for, with the retained section of the next banner, after which, several rows of banners may then be placed in such positions as to have their edges meet and thereby present an enlarged banner from the many smaller sections. The participants in the drill are then concealed by the large flag and they hold the stas 12 and 13 in such positions as to cause the protruding ends to be concealed by the adjacent flag sections. It is apparent that this same idea may be carried out by having a suspended banner which is folded as in this instance and to have this suspended banner show a series of flags of any desired kinds and then upon the release of one of the sections forming the support for said banner to permit said section to fall to eX- pose the inner face of the folded banner. The same idea. may be carried out in campaign or historic banners and that the few types shown are intended to disclose the general application only without restricting the usage to the immediate forms shown.

Having thus described this invention, l claim l. In, a scenic effect, a sectional staff, a display of doubled material having different presentations on its exterior and interior faces, the ends of said display having attachinent with said sections of said sta, and means for attaching and releasing said sections of said staff1 to or from each other.

2. In a scenic effect, a display comprising a ply of fabric folded to present a double ply, the interior and exterior faces of said display presenting` different effects, a staff7 for said display comprising` complemental sections, the ends of said ply of fabric being attached to said sections, an ornamental head carried by one of said staff sections, said ornamental head being recessed to re ceive the other of said staff sections, and a supplemental staff section to receive the opposite ends of said staff sections.

3. In a scenic effect, a display comprising a length of fabric having its opposite faces differently designed, said length of fabric being foldable intermediate of its ends to present a double ply, the exterior faces presenting individual and complete designs, the interior faces presenting a fractional portion of an enlarged design, and means for exposing the interior face, and for interlocking a plurality of such designs.

4. In a scenic effect, a display comprising a doubled length of fabric having different interior and exterior presentations, a sectional staff for said display, the ends of said display being attached to detachable sections of said staff, the exterior face of said display presenting complete designs, the interior faces presenting sections of an enlarged design, of which the complete design is formed by a plurality of the independent displays, and said sections of said sectional staffs being attachable with other sections of other independent and adjacent display sections.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT H. BURNSIDE.

Witnesses Gnoiaon L. THoM, HUGO Moen.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

